For $50,000, a 26-year-old software engineer from Andhra Pradesh kidnapped and killed his family friend’s 10-month-old baby Saanvi, whose body he stuffed in a suitcase, but nicknames used by him in the ransom note provided critical clues that helped police nab him.
Raghunandan
Yandamuri was arrested on charges of kidnapping and killing Saanvi Venna and her 61-year-old grandmother Satyavathi Venna, who was found dead at an apartment complex in Upper Merion Township on October 22.
Yandamuri, who used to live in the same complex, was produced before a Pennsylvania court after police recovered the body of Saanvi on Friday from the men’s locker room of his apartment’s gymnasium.
He told the detectives that he targeted the apartment of Venkata Venna, 41, and Chenchu Latha Punuru because he believed they had money.
The ransom note asked Venkata that “Lata” be asked to deliver $50,000. Investigators determined “Lata” is a reference to Chenchu and only some close friends call her by that name.
The first word in the ransom note is ‘Shiva’. Venkata told investigators that his full name is Venkata Konda Siva Prasad Venna, and some of his close friends and family members call him ‘Siva’.